Chapter 9 - The Vending Machine of Poison
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The words abortifacient drugs hung in the sterile air of the hospital room, suffocating me.
"I didn't take anything like that," I gasped, panic rising in my throat. "I swear. I wanted my babies. I wanted them more than anything."
"We believe you," Dr. Shah said quickly, placing a reassuring hand near my shoulder. "But do you remember taking any pills during your pregnancies? Anything at all?"
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to walk back through the nightmare of my daily routine with Luke. Every morning, like clockwork, he would stand in the kitchen, pouring me a glass of orange juice. Beside the glass, sitting neatly on a napkin, would be a small pile of pills. White ones. Blue ones. Sometimes a pale yellow capsule.
"He gave me vitamins," I whispered, nausea rolling through my stomach. "He said they were prenatal supplements. Iron. Things to help with morning sickness. He always took them out of the bottles and put them in a plastic daily organizer. He said seeing the medical bottles made me anxious."
Evelyn put her head in her hands, letting out a ragged, muffled sob.
"I took whatever he gave me," I confessed, the ultimate betrayal sinking into my bones. My own husband had been chemically forcing my body to reject my children, all while holding my hand and wiping my tears when the bleeding started.
"We are running toxicology panels now," Dr. Shah said, her voice tight with suppressed anger. "We need to verify exactly what was in your system. But Caroline, this level of prescription fraud requires insider access. Someone was writing these scripts, and someone was filling them."
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For years, Luke had told me he worked in regional insurance sales. He went to an office. He took business trips. But as I stared at the forged documents, I realized I knew absolutely nothing about the man I had married.
"I need to know everything," I said, looking up at Priya and Dr. Shah. "Don't hide anything to protect me. I am done being protected."
